Yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines



M.,LEITCH. YIELDABLE BEARING FOR CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES APPLICATION FILED APR. I3, |920.

Patented Aug. 9, 1921..

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UNITED MEREDITH Lnrrcn, OF 1evenmin?sm,l NEW YORK, AssIeNoR To man DE Laver.

sEPAnATon COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A OORPORATIONOF yNEW JERSEY- To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Mnnnuirrr LEITOH, a citizen of the United States, residin at Pou hkeepsie, county of Dutchess, and tate Ngew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Yieldable Bearings for Centrifugal Machines, of which the follow-l is a full, clear, and exact description,

in 'reerence being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this speciication.

My cnshloning means for yeldable bearmgs for centrifgugal machines.

Ihave observed that 'where'a metallic v1 spring is used to cushion a bearing, the return force of'the cushion is asgreat as the resistance to displacement. This results 1n 'a tendency toa persistence of any vibration once set up. I have also observed that with 'a rubbercushion there is a certain considerable amount of lag in the return force which might be likened .to hysteresls 1n transformer cores and has a decided damp-y e'ect on vibrations. know that rubber cushions havel been used around the upper bearings for centrifu-` al'machines, but they .have been unsatis- Vso actory'for three reasons.

rHeat from the bearings causes deterioration of the rubber, escapin oilsoaks into the rubber and rots it, and t ere 1s no means for adjusting the tension.

The' object of my mvention is to provide a rubber cushioned bearing with which a minimum amount of heat will be transmitted from the bearing to the rubber, with which `no oil from the' bearing cangain access to therubber, and with which 1t 1s possible to adjust the tension. 0

In the accompanying drawings., which show a referred lembodiment ofjmy mvention:

igure 1 isa vertical section through the bearing on the line 1-1 of .Figs 2 .and 3, and through the casings and retalner.

Fig..2 is atop view, and 3 a .bottom view, of the bearing hner; F1g. .4 1s a part.. section of the liner on the l1ne'4-4 of Fi 2. i

'Ihe bearing liner: al has, on its outside,

several ribs b, which are turned outward at c. Around the upper part of the hner 1s a vflange d in which is formed an oil receiving trough e. Inside the ange there is an annular groove f. Two holes g lead from the bot- Specification of Letters Patent.

linvention is y an improvementinv YIELDABLE BEARING 'FOR CENTRIF'UGAL-MACHDSI'ES.

Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

tom ofthe trough downward at such anvitngle that the bottom ofthe hole is below* the bottom of the groove f. Two other hole'slk" 'i lead from near the center of the annular groove f-toA the two spaces vbetween twopalrs of r1bs b. Across the bottom of each of these vtwo s aces there is a lhorizontal rolled outward and downward at nto form a dri edge. The lower end of the shell exten s below the liner a and is so reduced in size at o thatit is but little larger than l the bore of the bearing.

. Around the body ofthe shell l is a rubber cushion p surrounded b a metallic strip forced intoI a frame liner 1'. The body of the liner 1' is a force fit in the frame s, but above the frame it is enlarged and forms an upstanding ring z intermediate in diameter between the portions m and n of the bearing shell. Below the cushion` the liner r is reduced nearly to-the diameter of the body- .of the shell l and is turned downward A bearing retaining plate t, secured by screws u to the frame 3, is turned upward outsideof the portion n of the shell, inward and downward until it barely clears the top of the flange d, and then upward at o toward. the center but havin than the bore of the earing.

Through the portion turned upward toward the center there is 'a hole w for the end of an oil su ply tube Just above the frame s, the p ate At has several oil escape holes y. l When in operation, .oil from'the tube m falls into the trough e andl flows down through the holes'g, filling the lower part of the groove f. en this groove is about half filled, the oil iows through the holes h into two of the spaces between ribs b,

the spindle carries the oil around to the' 110 grooves k and gradually forces it up the grooves until it escapes into the annular groove j and starts to re-circulate. While the oil is passing up the groove k, enough escapes to maintain a lubricating film be tween the bearing and the spindle. As more oil is fed, the space above the walls z' between the ribs b fills full of oil, thus supplying all the oil that can pass through the holes j. When this space is full, any excess oil passes around the ends of the ribs c and downward throu h the spaces between ribs b not closed by t e walls z', and falls insideY the frame of the machine. The bottom 0 of the shell extends so far down that this oil cannot reach the rubber cushion p.

If oil follows up the spindle and flies off above the top of the bearing it will be caught by the inwardly turned portion v of the bearing retainingplate and iow downward to elther the trough ,e or the space outside the flange ci.

lf the spaces between the ribs b become clogged so that the oil cannot escape through them, it can flow upward over the portion m and downward over the portion n of the shell into the space outside the ring z and escape through the holes y. rlhe ring z stands so high above the escape holes y that there is no danger of oil passing over the ring and thus reaching the upper end of the rubber.

The bottom 1l of the frame liner r extends so far downward that oil splashed from the driving mechanism cannot pass inside of it up to the rubber cushion.

The spaces between the-ribs b are large enough to allow, between the body of the bearing and the shell b, a considerable circulation of air to prevent heating of thc shell and the surrounding rubber.

The metallic strip g prevents the rubber ring coming in contact with and stickingto the frame liner 1'. The bearing and rubber ring, therefore, may be easily removed from the machine.

1f, after long use, a rubber ring becomes too soft to give proper support to the bearing, a strip of heavy paper or thin cardboard may be wound around it, inside the metallic strip, compressing the rubber so as to Igive better support to the bearing.

rom the above description, it will be understood that 1 have produced a rubbercushioned bearing that has a minimum heating e'ect on the rubber, avoids danger of v oil rotting the rubber, and has provision for adjustment of the cushioningv effect of the rubber.

' Having now fully described my invention, what l claim and desire to protect by Letters lPatent is:

1. In. a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination with a bearing liner internally grooved near itsv upper end to receive oil, of means affording an oil passage outside the liner, the liner having a hole to allow oil to flow from said groove to said passageand another and lower hole to allow oil to flow from said passage to the interior of the liner.

2. ln a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination with a bearing liner internally grooved near its upper end to receive oil and provided at its top with an oil receiving trough, of means allowing a flow of oil froml the trough to the groove, from the groove to the outside of the liner, and from the outside tothe inside of the liner near its lower end.

3. In a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination with a bearing liner and a surrounding shell, of down-p and lower parts of the liner communicating, v

with said passage.

4. In a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination with a bearing liner and a surrounding shell, of a series of downwardly extending ribs between the liner and shell, aording passages, a cross wall closing one or more of said passages at the bottom, the remaining passages being open at the bottom to allow flow of air, there being holes in the upper and lower parts of theliner communicating with the passage or passages closed at the bottom. y

5. ln a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, a bearing liner having an interior upwardly closed annular groove near its upper end, an oil receiving trough encircling the upper end of the liner, oil feed holes connecting said trough and said annular groove, an oil feed near the bottom of the liner, a helical return grooveon theinterior of the liner,` and means for feeding oil from said annular groove to said oil feed.

6. A bearing liner having an interior helical groove and in its upper portion an interior annular groove, an oil receiving trough around the grooved upper portion of the liner, there being a hole in the trough and a groove 'in the annular groove registering with the hole, and provisions for flow of oil from the annular groove the lower part of liner and cushion, said shell extending below the cushion and there bent inward and downward below the liner, the upper portion of l the shell extending outward over lthe cushion,

d, extending above the cushion and having an 10 oil shed extending above and outside said cushion, and the' other interposed between the cushion and support and having its upper end extending within said oil shed.

10. In a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, thecombination of a bearing liner, a surroundiflff cushion, a shell between the liner and cushion and extending over, above and outside the cushion 'to form a shed, an outside frame, a liner between the frame and cushion extending above the frame and within said shed, and a bearing retaining plate secured to the frame and extending upwardly around, and inwardly above, said shed and provided with an oil hole below the lower edge of the shed.

l1. In a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination with a bearing liner, a shell outside the liner having an oil shed extending outward and downward fromv its upper end, a. rubber cushion outside the shell, and a cushion-surounding member having its upper edge within and higher than the lower edge of the shed, ofa bearing retaining plate having oil escape holes substantially lower than the upper edgeof the cushion-surrounding member.

12. In a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination with a bearing liner, a shell, a rubber cushion and a cushionsurrounding member, of an adhesion-preventing member between the cushion and the cushion-surrounding member.

13. In a yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination of a bearing liner, means to feed oil to 'the upper end thereof, a shell around the liner, means afording passages for cooling air between the liner and shell and other passages, for flow of oil from the upper end outward, downward and inward to near the lower end of said liner, means to cause ow of oil within the bearing from the bottom to the top thereof, an oil shed from the' top of the shell, a rubber cushion around the liner, and a cushion-surrounding member having its upper edge within and higher than the oil Shed.

14. Ina. yieldable bearing for centrifugal machines, the combination of a rubber cushion, abearing liner exteriorly ribbed to provide passages for cooling air, a bearing shell having a lower end extending below the bottom of the liner and an enlarged upper end extending above the top of the liner and provided with a still larger downwardly turned drip edge, a cushion-surrounding member having a reduced-diameter lower end extending downward below the bottom of the cushion and an enlarged upper end extendy ing upward inside the drip edge, and a bearing retaining' plate with oil escape holes substantially lower than theupper edge of the cushion-surounding member.

15. A bearing for centrifugal machines comprising inner and outer shells for the reoeption of a spindle bearing liner and arranged to be inserted in the bearing support in the machine frame, a compressible member between said shells, and oil sheds at both ends of the shells to prevent oil entering between the shells.

16; In a yieldable bearing for a centrifugal machine, the combinationl` with the frame of the machine, the spindle bearing liner and a compressible member between the frame and the liner, of inner and outer shells, one

surrounding the compressible member andl between the compressible member and the frame of the machine, and the other between. the compressible member and the spindle bearing liner, air passages for reducing the conductivity of heat from the liner to the inner shell, and oil sheds on the shells to prevent oil entering the space between the shells.

In testimony of-which invention, I have hereunto set my' hand, at4 Poughkeepsie, N. Y., on this 9th day of April, 1920.

' ,MEREDITH LEITCH. 

